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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 7.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Nabokov open his autobiography?
(a) With a short review of Russian history.
(b) With an examination of his early childhood.
(c) With a short story about the birth of his son.
(d) With a short meditation on the periods of inexistence before birth and after death.

2. To what is Nabokov's mother quite sensitive?
(a) Seemingly small events.
(b) Insults.
(c) Perfume.
(d) Insect bites.

3. Who are some of the ancestors on Nabokov's paternal, Russian side?
(a) A prominent Caholic cardinal, a physician, and Dmitri Nabokov, an inventor.
(b) A lawyer, scientist, and Dmitri Nabokov, a well-known actor.
(c) An explorer, the sister of a prominent Decembrist, and Dmitri Nabokov, the author's grandfather, who served as Minister of Justice for eight years.
(d) A government leader, an opera singer, and Dmitri Nabokov, the surgeon.

4. To what does the memory of the bracelet lead?
(a) An important memory about Colette.
(b) An important memory about his mother.
(c) An important memory about his father.
(d) An important memory about Mademoiselle.

5. From where does Mademoiselle come?
(a) Denmark.
(b) Africa.
(c) France.
(d) Switzerland.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Nabokov investigate about his family?

2. What is seen as a dreaded event?

3. What is the process by which Vladimir Nabokov writes "Speak, Memory?"

4. Why is he detained briefly in 1918, by a Bolshevik soldier?

5. What is their mother's reaction when she sees that her children have opened the presents from their stockings early and poorly rewrapped them?

(see the answer key)

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